Chimpanzees And Human Evolution Hardcover 1

Martin N. Muller

Knowledge of chimpanzees in the wild has expanded dramatically in recent years. This comprehensive volume, edited by Martin Muller, Richard Wrangham, and David Pilbeam, brings together scientists who are leading a revolution to discover and explain what is unique about humans, by studying their closest living relatives. Their observations and conclusions have the potential to transform our understanding of human evolution. Chimpanzees offer scientists an unmatched view of what distinguishes humanity from its apelike ancestors. Based on evidence from the hominin fossil record and extensive morphological, developmental, and genetic data, Chimpanzees and Human Evolution makes the case that the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans was chimpanzee-like. It most likely lived in African rainforests around eight million years ago, eating fruit and walking on its knuckles. Readers will learn why chimpanzees are a better model for the last common ancestor than bonobos, gorillas, or orangutans. A thorough chapter-by-chapter analysis reveals which key traits we share with chimpanzees and which appear to be distinctive to Homo sapiens, and shows how understanding chimpanzees helps us account for the evolution of human uniqueness.

9780674967953

English

Belknap Press

11/27/2017

848

Richard W. Wrangham

David R. Pilbeam

1

In a lucid and engaging style, Eugene Harris delivers a clear account of the latest insights in genomic studies that are giving humans a more comprehensive understanding of our evolutionary history, our place in nature, and where we may be headed (Donald Johanson, Arizona State University). Ancestors in Our Genome tells the amazing story of human evolution as it has been revealed by the study of our DNA. Eugene Harris, a rare anthropologist who has studied the differences in the DNA of humans and other primates, has written a superb book about the latest discoveries comparing the DNA genomes of apes and humans-both living and fossilized ... An enjoyable and wonderfully enlightening read (Jody Hey, Temple University and author of Genes, Categories, and Species). Simply indispensable for any reader wishing to learn about the latest research on human origins (Library Journal)